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 Trichia decipiens
SynonymsTrichia fallax
Arcyria decipiens
BiostatusPresent in region - Indigenous. Non endemic
Article: Stephenson, S.L. (2003). Myxomycetes of New Zealand. Fungi of New Zealand. Ngā Harore o Aotearoa 3: xiv + 238 p. Hong Kong: Fungal Diversity Press.
Description: Fruiting body a stalked (or rarely sessile) sporangium, gregarious to crowded, up to 3 mm tall. Sporotheca turbinate to pyriform, dull yellow to olivaceous yellow or brown, 0.6–0.8 mm in diameter. Stalk cylindrical, furrowed, dark brown below and paler above, up to 1 mm long, filled with spore-like cysts. Hypothallus membranous, colourless or brown. Peridium firm or membranous, yellow, often translucent when thin, persisting below as a deep (or sometimes rather shallow) calyculus. Capillitium consisting of free elaters, these olivaceus yellow, simple or branched, bearing 3 to 5 spiral bands, smooth, 5–6 µm in diameter, tapering gradually to the long slender tips. Spores olivaceous yellow in mass, pale yellow by transmitted light, delicately reticulate, 10–13 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white or rose-coloured.
Habitat: Decaying wood.
Distribution: Apparently cosmopolitan, but predominately a species associated with coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere, but also known from South America (Arambarri (1975) and Australia (Mitchell 1995). First reported (as Trichia fallax) from New Zealand by Oliver (1911), based on a specimen collected in the Kermadec Islands. Also known from Auckland (Cheesman & Lister 1915), Bay of Plenty, Wanganui, Fiordland, Mid Canterbury, Dunedin, Stewart Island (Lister & Lister 1905), and Campbell Island.
Notes: This species is easily recognised by the shining, olivaceous and membranous peridium and translucent stalk filled with spore-like cysts. No other stalked species of Trichia has both of these features.
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